While bar-hopping in Vegas this last week we noticed a cocktail with both mint and basil and thought, what a great use for the herbs in our garden! Yes, we do actually use them for non-cocktail food or drinks...but not very often now that I think about it. So we brought the flavor combination back to Minnesota and created the Gin Garden.
To tie into Lollapalooza happening this weekend in Chicago and bring back rockin' memories of the best Lolla ever (2010) we searched for a good song pairing. An obvious choice would have been something by Soundgarden, who was one of the headliners that year. We skipped them then for Arcade Fire and apparently for good reason. It turns out I can't really find any Soundgarden songs I like enough to invest even $1.29 in. So instead, to celebrate the fact that while making a Gin Garden is when my love for gin started we decided on "When It Started" by The Strokes as an appropriate pairing.
And to try and keep up with the Summer Cocktail over-achievers (I won't mention any names), we also threw in a versatile food pairing. At the Prior Lake farmer's market Saturday we stumbled upon some basil tomato cheddar cheese that ties in nicely with the basil in our cocktail. We started by bringing butter to room temperature and whipping it with two cloves of minced garlic. Then cut a loaf of french bread on the diagonal and buttered both sides. I kept the grill on a little lower temperature than usual so the bread wouldn't burn while the cheese melted in the final step. Put the bread on about a 300 degree clean grill for roughly a minute. Flip and sprinkle the bread with shredded basil tomato cheddar. Close the cover and grill for two more minutes until the cheese is melted.
Ingredients:
Gin (used Bombay Sapphire)
Basil
Mint
Lime
Strawberries
Simple Syrup
Club Soda
Add 2 basil leaves, 4 mint leaves, 1 sliced strawberry and juice from half a lime into a shaker (I hand squeezed instead of using our juicer to get the right amount of juice). Muddle well to get the flavor from the herbs. Add 1 jigger of gin and 2 splashes of simple syrup. Add ice and shake well. Strain over ice into a low-ball glass and top off with club soda. For garnish I skewered a mint leaf, strawberry slice, lime slice, another strawberry slice and a folded basil leaf. The fresh fruit and herbs are a great way to enjoy the final weeks of summer!
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